The Reign of Red
by blackhat64
Summary: The post-game, parallel stories of a callous Red and a narcoleptic Gold collide in a conflict that draws in the most powerful criminal enterprises in the underworld.
1. Chapter 1

**Gold **

The wind was fierce, and Gold was unbearably cold. His Typhlosion Jeff shuddered in his wake. Gold wanted dearly to offer words of encouragement to his exhausted team, but it was as if his mouth were frozen shut. The biting sleet crashed across his grim visage as he struggled to remain standing. Finally, the last of his will extinguished by the unrelenting blizzard, Gold collapsed into unconsciousness.

**Red **

Meanwhile, Red had his own problems. "Honey, there's a new batch of fan mail in the box," his mom called out.

"Throw it in the pile. Arceus, mom, are you completely dim?"

A few years ago, Marlene wouldn't have stood for this kind of behavior from her son. But now... _You have to remember, he's a big celebrity now_, she kept telling herself. And yet this all seemed wrong. Her little boy, 17 now, and champion of the Pokémon league. His cute little Charmander, now a ruthless, powerful dragon. It all seemed like time was passing too fast... "Mom!" Red's easily recognizable tone snapped her out of her daydreaming. "I need a Full Restore, STAT!" Marlene sighed. There would be other days.

**Gold **

Gold woke up in an unfamiliar cabin. There were signs of recent occupation scattered about the room - coffee-stained coasters on a glass table, half-open magazines, even empty Potion bottles - but not a soul to be found. He checked his backpack and sighed with relief to discover all his items and Pokémon intact. And yet, it still felt as if something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. Gold walked cautiously towards a large, ornate oak cabinet. He checked a dresser drawer - and fainted immediately. It was filled to the brim with dead, bloodstained Pokémon.

**Red**

Red was not happy.

Not at all.

He knew he should be. After all, he was the most powerful person in the world, even higher than the president of the United Regions. He was enormously successful, and to be honest, kind of a douche. He had money, power, and somewhere in the region of 50 girlfriends. And yet he yearned for the days when all he had was a Charmander and a heart full of hope. But those days were gone now, and he had a meeting with the UR Council in half an hour.

In Hoenn.

"Charizard, use Fly.

**Gold**

Gold came to in his own bed, in his own home. "Okay, what in Johto just happened? Silver, was that you?!" Silver walked in nonchalantly, but obviously a bit perplexed.

"Was what me?" he replied innocently. "I've just been standing outside your room, listening to you sleep-talk about your imaginary girlfriend." Gold's cheeks flushed. He didn't know Silver knew about his sleep-talking habit.

"Listen, buddy, this might sound crazy, but-" Gold began.

"Let me cut you off right there. I am not, and never will be, your 'buddy'. Continue."

"Fine. I was in a snowstorm on Route 75, and I must have fainted, because I woke up in some sort of cabin. I had all my stuff still, and - Oh no. Oh Arceus no."

"What? What's wrong?" queried Silver with the smallest hint of concern in his voice. All appearances to the contrary, he actually cared quite a lot about his former rival.

"My bag. My Pokémon - Jeff, oh no, oh Arceus this is bad. Silver, you gotta help me, man!" Gold was going into a state of panic.

"Relax, you melodramatic imbecile. I've got your bag right here."

Gold stared at Silver. Silver stared back. All of a sudden, Gold fell right back to sleep. Oh, right. Narcolepsy. Silver hadn't remembered Gold's condition until just then. He laid the synthetic leather rucksack at the foot of Gold's bed and turned off the light. "Sleep well, old friend," he whispered, before gently closing the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Gold **

Gold awoke to the morning sun shining through his window. His Furret, Mason, was curled up at the foot of his bed. "C'mon, boy. Get up, time to go." Gold tried to coax his furry friend out of bed, but Mason was sound asleep. Oh well, better just call him back into his ball. He clicked the button on the red-and-white sphere, smiling at the familiar sound as the sleeping Pokémon morphed into a red plasma and slipped inside. "What's up?"

Gold yelped in surprise. Silver had a habit of sneaking into his room unnoticed. "Don't do that!"

"Get your stuff. We're leaving. Now."

"Arceus, Silver! Don't be so uptight; I'm coming."

In a few short moments, Gold and Silver were on their way to the Gym they ran together. They greeted the practicing Trainers as they walked to the Leaders' platform at the end of the large room. The two friends took their positions and awaited the aspiring Trainers. Only four minutes had passed, and a long line of opponents was already streaming through the Gym's resident Trainers. Gold and Silver groaned in unison. It was going to be a long day.

**Red **

"...and that's why I believe this new PokéPolicy should be implemented immediately."

"Yes, but think of the implications! The value of the PokéDollar..."

Red groaned inwardly. This government discussion was less exciting than he'd hoped. Foreign policy and debt management weren't his thing. He belonged on the battlefield, pitting his wit, tact, and power against his opponent... "Master Red, what is your position on this topic?" Uh oh. He hadn't expected to be included in the discussion. "Uh... Coffee break! My treat!"

"Ah yes, I think that will do us all quite nicely. Coffee for everyone!"

Red breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe from the horrors of political discussion - momentarily, at least.

**Gold**

Gold was troubled. He knew he had to focus on the gym battle, but his mind kept straying back to that drawer full of dead Pokémon. How did he get to that cabin in the first place? And what kind of monster would kill so many innocent creatures? He just couldn't concentrate on anything else but that cabin. Subsequently, he and Silver had been handing out Badges like mad all day. To Gold, everything seemed somewhat surreal.

Upon their return to the house, Silver's calm and collected mood vanished in a heartbeat. "What was going on today, man? You're usually the best Trainer I know! Other than me, obviously. But that's beside the point. Tell me, Gold. Does this have something to do with what happened yesterday?"

"Silver, remember the cabin I was talking about earlier? I found a drawer full of..."

"Full of what? This is important."

"I don't want to say it. I - I can't."

"You have to. Come on, Gold. You need to tell me."

Gold broke down. "They were dead, Silver! For the love of Arceus, they were all dead!" he cried, burying his face in his friend's chest. Silver was shocked at his emotional display, but he knew he had pushed Gold past his limit. Silver gently stroked Gold's head as he passed into unconsciousness.

Once again, Gold was asleep. Silver pondered drawing a dick on his head, or putting his hand in a bowl of warm water, but in recent years his heart just wasn't in it. He and Gold had both matured quite a lot. Arceus, they were even running a Gym together! Who would have ever thought this was how we would turn out, the way we acted all those years ago... he thought. And now that Dad - now that Giovanni's gone, Gold's all I've got...

No. I've got to keep going. I can't become emotionally attached. I have to remain -

All at once the house was rocked by an enormous explosion. Gold woke with a start. "What was that? Silver, are we under attack?"

"I don't know, Gold! I've been here this whole time!"

A blinding wave of light washed over them, and for the moment, all was white.

**Red**

Red was just about ready to give up and leave the meeting, when an emergency broadcast came up on the main monitor, interrupting the PokéPoint presentation. "URGENT MESSAGE," it said. "EXPLOSION IN GOLDENROD CITY, GYM DISTRICT. HUMANITARIAN AID ON ITS WAY." The conference room erupted into panicked phone calls and heated debates on course of action.

The gym district, Red thought, a mote of decency working its way into his consciousness. Arceus, that's where Gold and Silver live! I've got to help them somehow... But then again, there's still the Humanitarian Aid services...

Red excused himself to the restroom to ponder the situation further. He had known the two trainers of Johto fame for years, and it seemed borderline criminal not to help them now. But Johto was a ways out of the way of Hoenn, and he still had a whole meeting to get through... No, the needs of his friends preceded the needs of the country. The UR could wait. For now, Gold and Silver were the only people that mattered. The airspace will be packed full of HA helicopters. Better take an alternate route.

"Poliwrath, use Surf! Let's go help our friends!"

**Gold**

For once, Gold woke up before Silver did. Choking and sputtering on the clouds of ash hovering around him, he saw his former rival lying motionless on the cracked pavement several yards away. Gold scrambled over to him as quickly as his sore, burnt limbs would allow. Only then did he notice he had lost all feeling in his right leg. With great effort, he lifted Silver's wrist and checked his pulse. Still beating. Good. Beating is good. He was relieved his friend's heart was working, but to be honest, he wasn't quite sure about his own. Now Gold was exhausted. This rather simple task had seemed like hours of physical exertion. His last thought before he slumped back into unconsciousness was Oh, no. Not this again-


End file.
